Words and Thoughts of Joshua Scott Witsaman

Tag Archives: photos

So I have been following the promotional campaign for X-Men First Class because the movie intrigues me. I was initially really looking forward to this X-Men prequel, then a few details were revealed and I thought it sounded kind of goofy, then they’d reveal a few pictures from the set and I was interested again, until they would show some footage which looked questionable and then I was off the wagon once again. This has continued for some time now until I’ve reached the point where I am now, basically feeling that this movie will simply be whatever it has become. Obviously it doesn’t stick to the comics, and they say it doesn’t necessarily stick with the previous X-Men movie continuity but at this point I am just looking forward to seeing this movie if for no other reason than to find out if I will actually enjoy it or not.

All of that not withstanding there is one image from the various promo shots that I really like, and that’s the picture of Xavier and Magneto hunched over a table playing chess. I like this image for several reasons; First I think it captures the Professor X/Magneto vibe pretty well, Second it harkens back to X-Men 2 (best of the X-Movies) when the two rivals are playing chess in Magneto’s plastic jail cell, and third, and most importantly, it is simply a classically composed iconic image of two great figures caught up in an epic struggle of dark vs. light. The archetypes of the black and white knights not only physically waging war but mentally and idealistically clashing as well, are ones that can add depth to characters without having to utter a single line of dialogue. Of course this imagery has been used countless times in every genre and medium imaginable and though it is perhaps overdone and on the verge of cliché, I want to take this time to share with you some other images of other minds coming together over the chess board. Behold this gathering of great rivals dueling it out on the checkered field of kings! I start you off with the previously mentioned image from X-Men First Class!